Process of making moldable fabric for various uses



.Reama Sept. 21, 1926. Re. 16,423

UNITED STATES, PATENT-OFFICE.

RAYMOND F. BACON, OF PELHAM, AND CLEO H. KIDWELL, OF DONGAN HILLS, YORK, ASSIGNOBS TO JOHN MANNING VAN HEUSEN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PI BDCESS OF MAKING MOLDABLE FABRIC FOR VARIOUS USES.

11o Iirawing. Original 80. 1,509,920, dated September 80, 1924, Serial No. 598,694,11ed November 2, 1922. Applieation'tor reissue filed July 16, 1926. Serial No. 123,007.

The present invention relates to a method of cotton yarn, and comprising one or more 60 of making moldable fabricfor various uses thicknesses or plies of material. A fabric as hereinafter more fully set forth. More of this sort has a considerable degree of particularly the invention relates to a body and thickness, and when stretched method of chemically treating woven or does not present an openwork or porous ap knitted fabrics so as to render the same pearance of so marked a degree as appears 60 moldable or plastic and to means for moldin a stretched knitted fabric which is made ing and setting the fabric in any desired of relativelyfine yarn and whichis loosely shape or' form. knitted. For this particular fabric we Our invention may be applied, and will have found that sulphuric acid of the be found highly useful,'in the manufacture strength of 7 O to 80%, and preferably 73 to 65 of a large number of difierent articles. It 75%, by weight, acting upon the fabric for may be used in the process of manufacture approximately one minute at ordinary room of many articles which heretofore have been temperature, gives the desired results. It

15. made in whole or in part of fabric which is, of course, necessary that the acid act it was necessary to cut into pieces of the upon all of the threads of the fabric at all 70 desired shape and subsequently stitch topoints, both interior and exterior. In order gether. to bring about this result with tightly Broadly stated, our invention comprises, .woven or knitted fabrics it may be found first, subjecting the woven or knitted fabric, necessary to utilize means of forcing the or the portion thereof which it is desired acid through the fabricso'as thoroughly to 15 to mold or shape, to the action of an acid; saturate the same. After this treatment second, washing out the acid with water or has been carried, on for approximately one an alkaline solution, or both, and third, minute as aforesaid, the fabric is thorough- 5 molding the fabric on a form of the desired ly washed with water so that all traces of shape and (1 ing it while on the form. an acid reaction are removed. It may be 80 \Ve have foun that by utilizing acid of the further necessary to treatthe fabric with proper strength and by subjecting the faban alkaline solution in order to insure the ric to its action for the proper length of complete removal of the acid.

time, the fabric so treated will become, to When the sulphuricacid is applied to the a degree, plastic and moldable. That is to cotton fabric as above described, it appears say, the fabric while in this condition may that the acid combines with-all of the moisbe placed over a form of the desired shape, ture (both in physical form and chemical and by applying pressure and heat, be combination with the cellulose) which is caused to take on the shape of the said present in the fabric. When the fabric is form, subsequently washed with water the sul- The strength of the acid used and the phuric acid is completely removed and we length of time-of, the acid treatment will believe that the cellulose combines with the vary with the particularmaterial treated. water to form hydrocellulose. We have 40 So also the particular method of subjecting discovered that when the fabric is in this the material to the acid may vary widely. condition it is easily distorted to almost Accordingly, we shall not endeavor herein any desired shape, and it is this property to describe all of the ways in which our inof the fabric which we utilize in the present vention may be racticed. But in order invention.

that those skilled in the art may understand As above stated, We place the fabric after the invention fully and may apply it to any treating the same, on a form of the desired desired material, we will for urposes of shape. In certain instances Where the new illustration merely, and not wit the intenshape which the fabric is to have is not mation of limiting the scope of the invention, terially different from the shape of the describe one way in which we have applied fabric before it was treated, it will not be the invention to one type of fabric wit exnecessary to exert pressure or heat on the cellent results. fabric, since the powerful shrinking proper- The fabric whose treatment we are about ties of the acid will cause the fabric to take to describe is a closely knitted fabric made on the exact shape of the form while the fabric is drying at ordinary room temperafabric is placed. In some instances it may be suflicient simply to pass an iron over the fabric after placing the same on the form.

In other instances the form itself may be.

heated by, for example, the provision of electrical heating units within the form, or by placing the form itself with the fabric thereon in an oven. If desired, the form may be constructed of two separate and corresponding sections, comprising male andfemale elements between which the fabric is placed. Pressure may then be applied to these elements and the fabric pressed into the exact shape of the form. It is true that the extent to which the fabric in its plastie' condition can be stretched and shaped is not unlimited, since the threads of the fabric itself while they are susceptible of a greater distortion and stretching while in this condition than normally, will nevertheless, be separated and broken if too eat a tension is applied. Consequently, if t e form which is-used is of a nature which will require ex-- treme distortion and stretching of the threads of the fabric, we have found it advisable to provide fabric for this treatment, which itself generally conforms to the shape of the form u on which it is to be placed. That is, the fa ric may be knitted or woven in such a manner as to 've it the general contour of the ultimate sfi ape which it is to have, or, if desired, the fabric to be treated may be made up of two or more pieces of fabric which have been cut to the desired sha e and stitched together. For example, in t e manufacture of hats by the above described process, we have found it advisable to knit or weave a fabric, the edges of which will lie flat on-a plane surface when the fabric is placed thereon and the central portion of which is raised or bulged slightly to conform in a general wa to the outline of the crown of the hat. en the acid treatment and subsequent shaping of the fabric on the form has been completed, the threads have not been placed under a tension which would in any way weaken the fabric, but nevertheless, the fabric has assumed the exact shape of a hat. As another example, in the manufacture of boots or shoes, we have found it advantageous to provide a heavy fabric sock, which in gem eral conforms to the sha of the foot, and

to subject this sock to t e acid treatment,

was}

and subsequently to the shaping process by placing the sock on a shoe tree and pressing and heating the same so that it will take on the exact contour of the said shoe tree.

been dried on a form of the desired shape,-

the fabric takes on a considerable degree of stiffness. As a result of this stiffening property of the treatment, the fabric when taken from the form does not lose its shape. On the contrary, the stiffness which is imparted to it is suflicient with most fabrics to render the same self-supporting. That is tosay, when the fabric has been taken off the form it retains its shape even after a. considerable amount of handling or rough usage. It will be seen that fabric treated in accordance with our invention may be used as a baseto which other materials may be attached. For instance, in the manufacture of ladies hats, the treated fabric may be used as the frame or shape of the hat, and to it may be attached ribbons, feathers, or other ornaments which are commonly used in the trimming of hats.

If the article which is manufactured in accordance with the process above described is likely in the subsequent use thereof, to become moistened or wet with water, it may be found desirable to treat the fabric with waterproofing materials. Any waterproofing materials may beused for this purpose,

but we have found that excellent results are obtained by subjecting the fabric first to the action of aluminum acetate and then to the action of a strong soap solution, for example, sodium stearate. This treatment may be applied to the fabric either before or after the said fabric has been molded and shaped on the form. We preferably subject the fabric to the treatment after the fabric has been treated with the acid and before the said fabric has been placed on the form. It will be noted that when the fabric has been waterproofed, moisture will not enetrate the fabric or be absorbed there y to any appreciable degree, and consequently, the fabric will not lose its stiffness and shape, which would tend to occur if a considerable amount of moisture were permitted to enter the fabric.

The terms and expressions which w have employed are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and we have no intention, in the use of such terms and ex ressions, of excludin any equivalents o the features describe or portions thereof, but recognize that various modifications are 1possible within the scope of the invention c aimed.

What we claim is:

1. The method of molding or shaping fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric to the action of an acid and then washing the acid out, thereby lacing the fabric in a semi-plastic or mo ldable condition, molding or shapin the fabric, while wet, into substantially t e desired contours, and then drying thevsaid fabric.

2. The .method of molding or shaping knitted fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric to the action of an acid and then washin the acid out, thereby lacing the fabric in a semi-plastic or mol able condition, molding or shaping the fabric, while wet, into substantially the desired contours, and then drying the said fabric.

3. The method of molding or shaping fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric to the action. of sulphuric acid, molding or shaping the fabric while wet, into substantially the desired contours, and drying the said fabric.

4. .The method of molding or shaping knitted fabric, which consists in subjecting moldin the fabric to the action of sulphuric aci or shapin the fabric, while wet into su antially 't e desired contours, and drying the said fabric.

5. The method of molding or shaping fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric, for approximately one minute, to the action of sulphuric acid of a strength from 7 0 to 80% by weight, washing out the acid, moldin or shapin the fabric, while wet.

' into su stantially t e desired contours, and

dryin it on a form.

6. The method of molding or shaping knitted fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric, for a'pproximatel one minute,

to the action of sulphuric aci of a strength 7 from to by weight, washing out the acid, molding or shaping the fabric, while wet, into substantially the desired contours, and dr ing it on a form.

7. T e method of molding or shaping fabric, which consists in subjecting. the fabric to the action of an acid, washing out the acid, placing the fabric, while wet, on a form of the desired shape, applying pressure and heat to shape the fabric substantially into the contours of-the form, and leaving the fabric on the said form until 8. The method of molding or shaping knitted fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric to the action of an acid, washing stantially into the contours of the form, and

y 9. The method of molding or shaping fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric to the action of an acid, washing out the acid, treating the fabric with a solution of aluminum acetate, then treating the fabric with a strong soap solution, and'finally molding or sha ing the fabric, while wet, into the desire contours and then drying it.

10. The method of molding or shaping knitted fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric to the action of an acid, washing out the acid, treating the fabric with a solurion of aluminum acetate, then treating the fabric with a strong soap solution, and finally molding or shaping the fabric, while wet, 1nto the desired contours and then dry- %1. The method of molding or shaping fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric to the action of an acid, washin out the acid, molding or shaping the fa ric into substantially the desired contours, and dryin it on a form, treating the fabric with a so ution of aluminum acetate, and finally lreatin it with a strong soap solution.

12. he method of molding or shaping knitted fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric to the action of an acid, washing out the acid, molding or she ing the fabric into substantially the desire contours, and drying it on a form, treating. the fabric with a solution of aluminum acetate, and

finally treating it with a strong soap solution.

13. The method of molding or shaping fabric, which consists in subjecting the fabric to the action of an acid, washing out the acid, treating the fabric with water-proofing materials, and finally placing the fabric, while wet, on a form of tie stantiall into the contours of said form, and drying it thereon: v

14. The method of molding or shaping knitted fabric, which consists in subjecting I desired 3 shape, molding or shaping the fabric subthe fabric to the action of an acid, washing out the acid, treating the fabric with waterproofing materials, and finally placing the fabric, while wet, on a form of the desired shape, molding or shaping the fabric substantiall into the contours of said form, and drying it thereon.

RAYMOND F. BACON. CLEO H. KIDWELL. 

